This invention relates in general to headjoints for musical instruments of the flute family and in particular to headjoint stoppers.
Flutes of today, including concert flutes and piccolos, are often constructed of metal and include a body portion which is detachably connected to a headjoint. The body portion includes the fingerholes and keys and the headjoint includes the embouchure hole and embouchure plate. Received in the free end of the headjoint is a stopper which is anchored to the crown fitting by threaded engagement. Although the body portion is generally cylindrical, the headjoint is typically a drawn or extruded member having a slightly tapering inside diameter. The end of the headjoint which attaches to the body portion is slightly larger than the opposite free end and thus the stopper is normally inserted from this larger end.
For preferred flute response, resonance and brilliance of tone quality, the geometry of the stopper, its position with respect to the embouchure hole and its ability to seal around the inside diameter of the headjoint are all important factors. Although stopper designs of today are often quite similar, there have been several attempts at improving the tone quality of flutes by modifying the headjoint or headjoint stopper. The following listed patents disclose some of the designs which have been conceived for tone quality improvement of musical instruments and/or for ease of positioning the headjoint stopper in the headjoint of flutes and piccolos.
______________________________________ Country Patent No. Patentee Issue Date ______________________________________ U.S. 1,106,249 Smenner 8/04/14 U.S. 920,471 Jenner 5/04/09 U.S. 1,013,037 Melfi 12/26/11 U.S. 859,714 Wurlitzer 7/09/07 U.S. 3,763,737 Sandner 10/09/73 U.S. 4,058,046 Fajardo 11/15/77 U.S. 1,376,004 Christensen 4/26/21 U.K. 2,563 Lillicrap 12/07/95 France 369,459 Cousesnon 11/13/06 ______________________________________
Smenner discloses a pitch-regulating device for ocarinas wherein an apertured casing is fitted over a vent of the instrument and includes a slide to close the openings in the casing. The vent may be increased or decreased in order to adjust the pitch of the instrument.
Jenner discloses a flute having a shortened separate mouthpiece which includes the embouchure hole and the free end is fitted with a tuning plug. The tuning plug has a hard wax facing which may be sanded down in order to adjust the overall length of the tuning plug.
Melfi discloses a flute attachment which can be applied either to the conventional flute head or to a specially constructed head and causes the instrument to produce a double tone.
Wurlitzer discloses a flute wherein a circular shoulder is provided at a predetermined distance from the embouchure hole such that the headjoint stopper may be repeatedly removed and then repositioned without being concerned about reestablishing the proper stopper to embouchure hole spacing.
Sandner discloses a flute having a cylindrical bore whose embouchure hole end is closed by a stopper and axially extending through the interior end of the stopper is a cylindrical plug. The length of the plug may be adjusted in order to obtain a true tuning of all notes.
Fajardo discloses a cylindrical headjoint which has an internal cross section that tapers down from a cylindrical shape at the tenon to a noncylindrical shape at the embouchure end by means of a wedge inserted into the headjoint.
Christensen discloses a headpiece for metallic piccolos wherein an internally threaded cap receives a stopper for closing the embouchure hole end. The stopper includes a flat head adjacent the embouchure hole, a washer and a cylindrical cork member disposed therebetween.
Lillicrap discloses a flute or the like in which the headjoint stopper includes a pair of discs B and C with an expandable rubber member between the discs. The rubber member is expanded by forcing the discs together squeezing the rubber member into contact with the head of the flute or the like. Because the Lillicrap device is intended to seal various sizes of headjoints, the disc B is smaller in diameter than the I.D. of the headjoint and therefore, disc B cannot seal at its periphery.
The French patent to Cousesnon discloses a flute and a headjoint stopper wherein the headjoint stopper has a concave cap backed up by a cork. Because the cork is being used, the diameter of the disc is smaller and the disc does not seal at its periphery.
Although the devices disclosed by these various references may prove interesting due to their variety, flutes of today typically include a headjoint stopper similar to the design of Christensen. These current designs include a generally cylindrical section of cork which is faced on one end with a metal plate and on the opposite end with a threaded member which is received by the crown fitting disposed in the free end of the headjoint. Since an air-tight seal in the headjoint is imperative, the cork's function is to seal closed the end of the headjoint and the metal plate serves to direct the air column into the body portion of the flute. It is known that for best tonal quality and proper pitch relationship within the octaves, the metal plate should be located with respect to the center of the embouchure hole at a distance equal to the inside diameter of the headjoint taken at the center of the embouchure hole. In order to accommodate tolerance variations and to assure that the cork does the sealing, the metal plate is made smaller than the inside diameter of the headjoint while the cork is somewhat larger than this inside diameter so that the cork will securely seal when inserted into the headjoint.
Cork, when used as a stopper, has the advantages of being lightweight, easily shaped, moderately compressible and low cost. However, cork has the disadvantage of deteriorating with exposure to moisture and actually decreases in size in a very short time. Since the cork must be assembled to the metal end plate and drilled in order to provide for the threaded member, tolerance variations or inaccuracies must be provided for by making the outside diameter of the metal end plate sufficiently smaller than the outside diameter of the cork member. What results is a halo of exposed cork around the outside diameter of the metal end plate between the end plate and the inside diameter of the headjoint, and this exposes the cork member to moisture. With time the size of the crevice between the metal end plate and the inside diameter of the headjoint increases. Consequently, the cork stopper will begin to develop air leaks which gradually become worse. This problem may be referred to as the "halo effect." However, the flutist may be unaware of such leaks since the deterioration is gradual. A further problem which may accelerate the development of air leaks is the quality of cork which may be obtained for the fabrication of such headjoint stoppers. If the cork is porous, then the deterioration will be more rapid. With such air leaks, the actual seal of the stopper against the inside diameter of the headjoint occurs at a location further along the stopper beyond the metal end plate. This results in a sluggishness in the response of the flute which is undesirable.
A further disadvantage with conventional stopper designs is that the flat metal end plate presents a sharp corner with respect to the inside diameter of the headjoint. Such sharp corners delay the flow of the air column due to the particular flow pattern and thus it would be an improvement to reduce the degree of corner sharpness of the metal end plate relative to the headjoint inside diameter. Such a reduction in corner sharpness permits responsive articulation of the flute and aids in the production of more secure legato. The invention disclosed herein overcomes each of these disadvantages and provides other improvements in the design of headjoint stoppers as will be apparent.